I forgot one very important thought. When you are in South America and you don't speak the language ask your guide or anyone else that may speak english to speak to a local, poor, country person [campesino] as to where orchids [parasitos] may be found. They have the best idea as they work the land and walk around a lot as they do not have cars. Local city people travel by car and are not that in touch with nature and most likely do not go traipsing around in the wild. If you know how to ride a horse ask where one may be rented and hire that person to take you. I stress the point that the working rural poor will know better than the rich where to find orchids. In fact most orchidists that I know around the world do not go in the woods. They get their plants from people that work their ranches for them. Even in olden times orchids did not come from areas where many people lived, just look at the collection records of Warscewicz or Rolfe and you will find that the names of the towns or areas are never common names and rarely are found on a regular map. So it is not just in modern tiomes that orchids took an effort to see. Seeing Orchids in the wild requires a little effort but it is well worth it. -- -- Jay Pfahl www.orchidspecies.com
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